Bringing down job barriers in the Western Balkans Inhibition of mobility can be detrimental to a country's research initiatives. A comprehensive investigation into mobility barriers for researchers in the Western Balkans promises to halt the 'brain drain' and increase the region's attractiveness to workers. Climate Change and Environment © Thinkstock The 'Development of researchers mobility policy guidelines for the region of Western Balkans' (WEB-MOB) aimed to enhance mobility policy and prevent the loss of researchers. The hope was to attract researchers back into the Western Balkans and to improve the management of human resources. The project was managed by three bodies. A steering committee established management procedural structures, the secretariat managed day-to-day administration, and there were national expert groups for each of the countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. Five legislation reviews, one for each of the West Balkan countries, were prepared for the existing law relating to mobility obstacles. Data on research institutes capable of attracting researchers, information points on mobility issues, and information from government and private organisations on barriers to mobility were collected in a database available on the portal. WEB-MOB produced a series of guidelines – 'Synthesis report and the policy guidelines for reducing and eliminating obstacles to the mobility of researchers' ğ– the main deliverable of the project. Furthermore, the dissemination media, the WEB-MOB portal, conferences, workshops and published material all helped to highlight the assets for researchers in the Western Balkan region. Results of the WEB-MOB project stand to reduce and eliminate mobility obstacles in the Western Balkans. Integration into the European Research Area (ERA) is likely to increase and relations with EU research generally can be improved through reduction of mobility barriers.
